June seems like the premiere month for wildflowers in our part of North-central Minnesota. This post shares photos of some of our local June wildflowers. They are arranged from those appearing early in the month to those that we see now at June’s end. Early June Hoary Puccoon Lithospermum canescens This is a favorite wildflower, …
Category Archives: wildflowers
Ski Slopes in Summer
Being familiar with the Park City ski slopes in winter, it was an interesting experience to hike partway up the mountain in summer. I mostly followed a trail designated as Jenny’s Trail. A person hiking here has to be aware of the mountain bikers who are also enjoying the trails; parts of the trail are …
Mill Creek Canyon, Utah
A benefit to life in Salt Lake City, Utah is the proximity of the city to the Wasatch Mountains. Recently for a hike in the mountains we drove up Mill Creek Canyon to the Upper Big Water Trailhead, just 9 miles east of the 215 Beltway in the city. Subalpine Fir (Abies lasiocarpa) Trees in …
White Wildflowers Predominant in Late June
In late June, around the time of the summer solstice, nearly all the wildflowers in our area of North Central Minnesota are white. This seems unusual because other times of the year I see colorful wildflowers. May and early June have yellow and pink wildflowers, while in July through October you see magenta, yellow, and …
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Utah and Minnesota Kayaking
Within the last month I’ve kayaked in Utah and in Minnesota — there was quite a contrast. The pictures below illustrate how different the two places are. Deer Creek State Park, Utah On Memorial Day we brought two kayaks up from Salt Lake City to Deer Creek State Park, near Heber, Utah (appreciating a YouTube …
Paul Bunyan Trail in mid-August
The Paul Bunyan Trail is a paved recreational trail in northern Minnesota that runs 120 miles from Brainerd to Bemidji. It is an ideal route for biking and running in the summer and for snowmobiles in the winter. The photos below are from a recent bike ride in the middle of the trail, between Hackensack …
Nobletts Trail in Uinta National Forest, Utah
The Uintas Mountains are an east-west trending sub-range of the Rocky Mountains that contain the highest mountain in Utah, Kings Peak (elevation 13,528′). Nobletts is an easy hiking trail on the western flank of the Uintas, its trailhead is about 50 miles west of Salt Lake City. The trail follows Nobletts creek for about 2 …
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Native Flowering Shrubs
From late May through mid-June, we have noticed a succession of native shrubs blooming in north-central Minnesota. Each of them has similar small white flowers, and seemingly take turns blooming one after another. Serviceberry was first, in late May. It was followed by Red-osier Dogwood, then Viburnum in mid-June. Serviceberry Red-osier dogwood Viburnum Two species …
Water Lily Pollination
Many Fragrant Water Lilies (Nymphaea odorata) bloom in our lake in July and August. The flowers are showy yet I had not noticed insects attracted to them, which caused me to wonder about its strategy for pollination. Investigation revealed that these plants have a very interesting reproduction process. Each flower of the Fragrant Water Lily …
Wildflowers Flourishing in Dry Utah
The summer of 2021 has been exceptionally dry in Utah. Despite this several hardy wildflowers are flowering along hiking trails at high elevations east of Salt Lake City. Think of the water that could be saved by replacement of grass lawns with attractive plants like these.
North MN Outdoors 